Chasing Mice
by AshRain114
Summary: Clara is a small, invisible, Hufflepuff. Theta is a strange, insane, Gryffindor. But one memorable meeting between the two of them leave both of them locked in a game of cat and mouse - but who is the cat, and who is the mouse? Hogwarts AU, Whouffle!
1. An Incident in the Halls

A/N: Okay, so this is something new I've been writing to try and get myself out of my writers block. It's been up on AO3 for a bit, so i figured I'd post it here as well. This is a Hogwart AU and it's defs Whouffle. It's great.

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**Chasing Mice**

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_**Chapter 1: An Incident in the Halls**_

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He was an absolute menace.

Not in an innocent way either. Rory Williams in Ravenclaw was an _innocent _menace. The kind where about once a week he somehow managed to slip and fall down three flights of stairs, usually taking out half a dozen students along the way.

He wasn't a _dangerous_ menace either, like Koschei Oakdown in Slytherin. At least half of her house had been cursed by him last year, and whenever she walked by him in the hall she tensed, wondering if she'd be next.

_He _wasn't either of those things. He was neither innocent nor dangerous. But there was no other way to describe him other than a total and complete menace.

Like right now, for instance.

"Hey, Puff! Watch out!"

Clara turned just in time to get a face full of water.

She stood there in a stiff shock while the hall erupted in quite giggles and hushed sympathetic sounds. Her eyes still squeezed shut, she at first assumed that it had been peeves, the poltergeist who had no qualms about dropping the occasional balloon on a student. If you were lucky it would be filled with water, and not urine.

But when she whipped the water from her eyes, taking half her makeup with it, she opened them and saw the sheepish outline of the _menace_ standing in front of her.

"Hey, sorry bout that 'puff." He flicked his head, shooting the mop of hair to the side of his face, "Didn't see you there."

And if that wasn't just the story of her life. Sweet little Clara of Hufflepuff house, melding into the background and lost in her own world of far away adventures. She was fairly certain that the only reason that anyone knew her name was because she was Prefect.

If she had been a Slytherin, no doubt she'd have cursed him already. If she was Gryffindor she'd been swearing and ready to throw a punch. Ravenclaws would simmer silently but you could be certain that redemption was coming.

But she was Hufflepuff. So she gave him a fixed smile, "S'not a problem."

He grinned at her and reached forward to ruffle her soaking wet hair. Clara thought that was sort of strange, but then again so was everything else about him. Unlike the normal Hogwarts uniform of white shirt, trousers, a sweater for cold weather and the robe and tie of your house colour - the menace opted for something a little less traditional.

Instead of the tie, a gold and red bowtie was tie around his neck, and instead of the grey sweater with red accents he wore a tight light grey waistcoat. It was very old-fashioned, but technically not against the Hogwarts dress code. It was an outdated uniform...but a uniform none the less.

Clara herself wore the normal uniform, only accented with the yellow and black of her house.

"Thank Puff."

Puff. That's what they called her. It's what they called all Hufflepuffs whose names they didn't know. She wasn't sure if other houses had nicknames like that. Claws? Gryffs? Snakes? Maybe, but she'd never heard anyone use nicknames for the other houses. Apparently Hufflepuff was the only house who had unknowns

She was alone in the hall now. Just her, her book bag, and The Standard book of Spells Level 5, which was now ruined. She sighed, knowing that she'd have to buy a new one.

The Bathroom was empty. Second Floor girls bathroom always was, cause of the ghost. Not that Myrtle was scary or anything, just annoying. Clara tried to ignore her wailing as she moved over to the mirror.

Through the layer of grime she could see her appearance and winced. Her shoulder length brown hair soaked and she quickly cast a drying charm over her and her clothing. She tried to cast it on her book, but the ink had already been damaged. It was dry and very much illegible.

She washed the ruined remains of her makeup away and then just stood there - looking in the mirror.

She probably should've snapped at him for dousing her head to foot in water. But Hufflepuff's weren't known for having a fiery temper. She was known for being dedicated, patient, great with the first years, and for holding the world record for receiving the question, 'What's your name again?' the most times in a single week.

She'd had a bit of fun of that one. Half the school was still convinced her name was Anna.

She wondered if that's what _he _thought her name was.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Of course he didn't think that. He's called her Puff. You don't get called 'Puff' by someone who knows your name.

A part of her figured it was a good idea that the menace didn't know her name. If he knew her name then there was a possibility of becoming his friend. And she'd seen the kind of messes that he got his friends into. Poor Rose Tyler had to transfer to Beauxbatons because on him.

But a deeper part of her mind, the one driven my hormones, fluttered when she remembered the way his mess of hair fell just below his eyes and his wide-mouthed grin. That part of her wanted him to know her name, to know who she was.

But that part of her was going to have to deal with it. She wasn't anybody special. She was 'Puff'. And that was it.

He had no idea who she was.

* * *

Actually no idea. She looked about his age but he couldn't remember ever seeing her around the school before. He had classes with Hufflepuff before and he tried to think back to his last Herbology class, trying to remember if she'd been there.

Maybe she was a year younger. She was a tiny thing, barely reaching his shoulder - which is probably why he hadn't even seen her before the water balloon had exploded all over her.

He hadn't been aiming for her - honest. He'd been aiming for Amy, who'd at least had the decency to warn the Puff before the balloon exploded all over her.

He felt bad about that.

Not the balloon thing. That happened more often than he'd admit, but the name thing. He was annoyed that he didn't know her name. He knew everyone's name, but for some reason she had managed to escape under his radar.

"Amy..." He started, turning to his friend with hair so red he was sure she had distant relations to the Wealsey's. "That girl back there, what's her name?"

"What girl?" She asked with a frown.

"_The _girl." He waved his hands around, "The one I hit with the balloon."

A look of realization came over Amy's face, "Oh, her. Er..." She furrowed her eyes, "I think it was Anna? Or something like that. But I'm not 100% sure."

Anna. No that didn't seem right. Well, for all he knew if could be her name, but if it was it didn't suit her.

"Why don't you just find her and ask her yourself"

He blinked, the idea not even coming to his mind. "Alright, any idea how to find her?"

"Er..." Amy frowned, "No, not really. I think she might be a prefect so I could ask Rory?"

"Hmm." He frowned, wondering for a moment if it was really worth it. She was just some girl. He was probably going to run into her at some point. "Don't bother."

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**Review with any comments, concerns, or questions :)**

**-Ash**


	2. A Girl Called Anna

**Chasing Mice**

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_**Chapter 2: A Girl Called Anna**_

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Sometimes being a nobody had it perks. If she were a bit more notable than she was sure that gossip of the balloon incident would have been the topic of the day. But instead she was able to finish the rest of her classes without a single funny look.

She remembered when she was in muggle school, something her mum had insisted on, and she'd been pelted with water balloons one recess. Unable to use magic she had to wear disgusting clothes from the school, her hair soaking wet for the rest of the day.

Thank god for magic.

After Defense, she made her way to the great hall for dinner and sat next to Jenny, a rather chipper girl in her year who had a horribly indecent crush on the Arthrimancy Professor and sometimes Herbology substitute, Madame Vastra.

"Can I use your owl." Clara asked, loading up her plate with food.

Jenny tore her eyes away from the teacher's table, "Sure, what for?"

"Need to order a book."

Jenny furrowed her eyebrows, "Why not jus' wait for 'ogsmead." She asked, her accent coming in thickly.

Clara rolled her eyes, "Jenny, since I came to Hogwarts, I have been on exactly one Hogsmead trip. Besides, I've got a coupon from Witch Weekly for Flourish and Blotts."

"I can't believe you read that rubbish." Jenny snorted.

Clara leaned in, "It's got a great section on how to seduce older men...or women."

"Shut it!" Jenny blushed red, looking down as Clara laughed. "Besides, I 'eard you 'ad a thing with Theta Lungbarrow earlier today."

"It wasn't a _thing_." Clara rolled her eyes, annoyed that she'd underestimated the power of Hogwarts gossip. "He hit me with a water balloon. Which is incidentally why I need a new Standard Book of Spells, mine's wrecked."

"Oh, what an arse." Jenny said in sympathy.

"He's not an arse." Clara said far quicker than she would have liked, "Just a menace."

"You could say that again." Jenny nodded, "But I suppose...he's rather good-looking. I mean, if you like blokes."

Clara didn't dignify that with a response. Sure he was good-looking, if you looked past the chin, the lack of eyebrows, his weird taste in fashion and that mop that he liked to call hair which fell beautifully in front of his-

"Doesn't matter." Clara cut off her own train of thoughts, "Probably won't ever talk to him again."

"Oh dear." Jenny suddenly looked excited, "Is this another pity party where we get drunk and I get laid, and you don't and then you have to come to another common room and walk me home cause I'm too embarrassed to do the walk of shame myself?"

Clara laughed loudly, "That happens far too often Jenny! You're supposed to be the innocent one!"

Jenny giggled, "Yes well, the last thing I need is another blacked out night waking up in bed with a strange girl. You however-"

"No." Clara said instantly.

"You need to loosen up."

"No." Said again.

Jenny held up both her hands, "I'll even bit the bullet and take one for the team."

Clara chuckled, knowing Jenny was joking, "Thanks Jenny. If I ever find myself in a state where I'm questioning my sexuality, you'll be the first one I call."

"Good O!" Jenny cheered, raising a glass of pumpkin juice.

Clara felt a tap at her shoulder and turned to see the Rory Williams, the Ravenclaw prefect, standing behind her.

"Hey Rory, what's up?"

"Hey Clara, Jenny." He spared a polite look at Jenny who smiled back at him. Rory turned back to Clara, "Um, look is there anyway I can switch out rounds tonight? I'll take your rounds tomorrow, I promise."

"Sure." Clara shrugged, "S'not like I have any plans."

"Who's your lady friend?" Jenny asked toothily.

Rory blushed all the way to his toes before mumbling something under his breath and walking off.

Clara rolled her eyes, "You should leave him alone you know. He's nice enough."

Jenny smirked, "I bet it's Miss Pond. He's 'ad a crush on her since first year."

"I thought he was gay?" Clara frowned.

"So does Miss. Pond." Jenny said and they both burst out into giggles.

Clara finished her meal and sighed, "Well, I'd best head back if I wanna get some homework done before rounds."

"Don't expect me back tonight." Jenny said, once again staring at Madame Vastra at the teacher's table.

Clara threw her pack over her shoulder, "You say that _every_ night."

"Well tonight's the lucky one!"

* * *

Most prefects hated rounds. It was probably the worst part of the duties, wandering around the corridors at night by themselves. She supposed muggles would be scared, haunted old caste and all that. But she was on good word with most of the ghosts, save of course the bloody baron and peeves.

But she enjoyed it. It was silent and empty and gave her time to go over her thoughts.

But tonight was particularly dead. She encountered two lost first years who still had troubles finding their common rooms, and one house elf dusting portraits.

She smiled at the elf, who waved back and continued on her work. She got on good with the elves, all Hufflepuffs did. Their common room was right near the kitchens and she saw them often.

But otherwise she was left alone to her personal thoughts.

She thought about her classes, her homework, working out a schedule to finish everything around rounds. She thought about how she would have to share Jenny's book in transfiguration tomorrow, and until her new book came in.

And she thought about the menace.

Not really anything specific. She wondered if he'd actually notice that she stood right beside him in Herbology. Or that she was in his astronomy class, as well as Arthimency. Probably not.

She also couldn't get Jenny's statement about his looks out of her head. She'd never really thought about it before. Despite what it may seem she didn't spend a lot of time thinking about him normally. But the more she thought about it the more she realized Jenny was right.

He _was_ good-looking. Not the kind where you notice right away, only something you could pick up on after studying him for a while.

Not that Clara spent a lot of time studying him.

A loud shuffling sound made her stop. She frowned and followed the sound until she came up to a small broom closest.

Great.

She reached for the handle only to pause, looking upwards and mumbled, "Please for the love of god don't be Jenny and Vastra."

She pulled open the door.

And sighed in relief.

And annoyance.

It was the menace, of course it was. He had just jumped away from a rather pretty blonde slytherin, whose red face was contrasted greatly against her green robes.

"Alright you two." Clara sighed, "Head off to your dorms and I won't take house points."

The girl nodded in thanks and squeaked out a , "See you later Theta," to the boy, before running down the hall.

The menace had a sort of 'deer caught in the headlights' look about him. Clara sighed and crossed her arms.

"Well, run along will you." Clara pointed towards the direction of Gryffindor tower.

He nodded, blinking at her. He wandered a ways down the corridor before he stopped and turned.

"Er- by chance." He straightened his bowtie, looking a bit nervous, "Are you the girl who I...with the water balloon?"

Clara fixed him with a look that told him she wasn't amused. "Yes that was me."

"Ah, well." He fidgeted, looking uncomfortable, "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine."

"Yes well, I was aiming for Pond and-"

"I said it's fine." Clara snapped. She hadn't meant to come off so hostile. but it was creeping up on midnight, and she wanted to get to bed.

"Yes, well..." He swallowed, "I best get to...astronomy."

And without another word he ran down the corridor, not towards the astronomy tower, and not towards the Gryffindor common room.

But Clara was too tired to follow him.

"Hey Puff!"

Clara rubbed her forehead and turned around, whipping herself in the face slightly with her own ponytail, "Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

She snorted mentally. "Anna."

And then she left before he could realize that she was lying.

* * *

So it _was _Anna. He wrinkled his nose. There was nothing _wrong _with Anna, it was a fine name, fantastic name really.

But it didn't seem like _her_ name.

Maybe it was her middle name? Yeah that seemed like a good middle name, simple sturdy, doesn't leave too much room for annoying questions.

Maybe she was lying. Oh he loved a liar - they were just so much more interesting than people who told the truth. He could spend hours trying to figure out why a person would lie rather than the thirty seconds that it would take if they told the truth.

But maybe there was nothing special about Anna of Hufflepuff house. Maybe she was just another puff who was too polite to say anything, although she had looked like she was going to bite his head off a few moments ago.

Or maybe there was more to her then met the eye. Maybe she was a liar, and maybe her story was more interesting than she made it out to be.

But she was already gone now. Like one of Hogwarts ghosts she seemed to melt through walls and shadow, hidden except when she wanted to be seen.

But he had seen her now. He knew what she looked like and that she was in Hufflepuff. He was sure if he looked he would find her again easily enough.

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**Review with any comments, concerns, or questions :)**

**-Ash**


	3. Oswin

**Chasing Mice**

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_**Chapter 3: Oswin**_

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How wrong he was.

Before he had known her, what she looked like and her name, it seemed simple that he wouldn't see her. There were hundreds of students in the school, and while he knew most of them, he supposed even _he_ was fallible to let a few fall under the radar.

But now that he was looking for her, it seemed almost impossible that she would still remain hidden.

But somehow, impossibly, she was invisible to him. To everyone it seemed.

"Have you seen Anna today?" He asked Amy as they walked towards Herbology

Amy blinked through her round glasses and frowned, "Who?"

"Oh come on." He groaned, "We just talked about her yesterday! I threw a balloon at her?"

"Oh, yeah." Amy nodded, then shrugged, "No clue - however." She turned around, a playful grin on her face as she stopped him from walking, "I heard something _pretty _interesting come out of the Slytherin common room this morning."

"Oh no." He looked at her in horror.

"Oh yes." Amy looked at him with an evil smile, "_Please_ tell me it's true."

"Depends on what you heard." He said with an annoying pit in his stomach.

"That you hooked up with Reinette Pompadour last night."

"No!" He scoffed.

"Really?"

"Well." He winced, "There was quite a lot of kissing, but _she _started it."

"Well...?" Amy grinned at him curiously.

"Well what?"

"Did you...you know?"

He frowned, "Did I what?"

"_Finish it?"_

"Amy!" He yelled, thoroughly scandalized.

She laughed, leaning on him for support, "Oh you're such a prude Doctor."

"I'm not a prude, and we did _not _sleep together." The Doctor grunted.

"Good." Amy nodded at him seriously, "Her family is one of the most powerful in France."

"We're not in France." He countered.

"Still..." Amy sighed, "She's a Slytherin, watch out for her."

"Not all Slytherins are that bad." He grumbled under his breath, knowing that he was something of a broken record on the subject

"Oh yeah." Amy snorted, "Cause your pal Oakdown is a _real_ gem."

"He's not too bad." Theta knew he was trying to convince himself more than Amy.

Amy looked at him dryly, "He sent a first year to the hospital wing three days ago."

"Well did someone inform a prefect?"

"He _is _a prefect."

"Really?" Theta shook his head, "That wasn't a good decision."

"You're telling me." Amy sorted, then looked around, "So what we're you saying about this Anna girl?"

"I haven't seen her around." The Doctor frowned, "I wanted to find her again so I could-"

He paused. He remembered that sometimes Amy couldn't keep up with his mind. She's probably think it was dumb, wanting to know if she was lying about her name or not. She's probably just tell him to ask Rory or something - but where was the fun in that.

"I just wanted to apologize." He said instead.

She snorted again, but didn't make another comment as they walked into the greenhouse and towards their assigned spots at opposite sides of the table.

Theta pulled off a piece of parchment for notes, as well as his dragonhide gloves - you never knew in this class.

He heard the thumb of a bag beside him on the table and looked over briefly before he did the biggest double take of his life.

"What!" He gapped.

Th girl pushed her straight across bang away from her eyes and gave him a strange look, "What?"

"But you're...Anna!" He poked her on the forehead.

She whacked his arm away, "Yes, I am."

"When did you get here?"

She snorted, "About two seconds ago."

"No, no, no, no." He waved his hands around, "I mean...you're in this class?"

"Yes..." She said it slowly like she was talking to an idiot, something which he kind of felt like.

"Since when!"

"Since always." She shifted looking a bit uncomfortable with the attention. He looked around and saw that there were a few curious glances their way, including Amy who had raised a single eyebrow curiously.

Theta opened and closed his mouth a few times, shaking his head, "And...do you always stand here?"

"Every day since first year." She said, pulling out her own dragon skin gloves, "You're really unobservant."

The Doctor didn't really have anything to say about that, which was lucky considered that Professor Sprout took that moment to enter the greenhouse and immediately started to yell at a few Gryffindors that were playing with some kind of throned plants.

Theta knew that whatever the hell was being taught in that class he was going to fail it on the exam, because for the life of him he couldn't stop staring at Anna.

She was tiny, probably barely taller than five foot nothing. Her brown hair was back in a messy bun with her bangs falling straight down over her Bambi eyes. Her skin was pale, and clear, with a strong jaw line and strong eyebrows.

She could tell he was staring at her. She kept fiddling, reaching up to push loose strands of hair behind her ears and clearing her throat.

Was he being creepy again? Usually Amy was the one to elbow him in the side and let him know. He looked over at Pond, but she was too busy talking with Rory to notice anything he was doing.

"Mr. Lungbarrow?"

He jumped, turning to the front, "Seventy four!"

Professor sprout gave him a strange look, "Excuse me?"

"Um...no, what?" he shook his head, "No, sorry. Mouth talking before brain thinking. What was the question again?"

As Professor sprout spoke he couldn't help but notice the way Anna bit on her bottom lip, the corner's turning up like she was suppressing a smile.

* * *

He was _insane._

She could add that to her list about things she new about him. A menace, good-looking, and insane.

He's stared at her the entire lesson after his initial outburst, seeming surprised that she even existed. Almost like if he looked away for more than a second she would vanish completely.

It was creepy.

Another thing. A good-looking, creepy, insane, menace.

Who seemed to be following her out of the greenhouse.

"What can I do for you Lungbarrow." She asked dryly as she walked, now pausing or slowing down. But he was almost a foot taller than her and kept up easily.

"You can call me Theta." He grinned at her, "All my friends do."

"We're not friends." Clara said quickly, then winced as she watched his face fall slightly, but it picked up again.

"We'll have to change that then, won't we." He stopped and Clara automatically stopped along with him, "Hello. I'm Theta Lungbarrow, my friends call me Theta, my really close friends call me Doctor. What about you?:"

"Doctor?" Clara asked, a lot of confusion on her face.

He shrugged, "Inside story. When we're friends I'll have to let you know."

He was playing on her curiosity. She narrowed her eyes, not entirely sure if she wanted to play his game. "I already told you my name."

"Right," Lungbarrow said slowly, "Anna."

"What's wrong with Anna?" Clara was strangely defensive about her fake name.

"Nothing," He shrugged, "But it's not your name."

Clara stared at him, trying not to give anything away, "Yes it is."

"No it isn't." He smirked, and Clara knew her face had given something up. "You don't look like an Anna."

"And pray tell." Clara started to walk again towards the castle, "What do I took like?"

"Hmm.." He thought about it, studying her like he was actually thinking about it, which for all she knew he might be. "Oswin."

That made her stop again. She gave him an incredulous look, "Oswin?"

"Yes." He looked proud of himself, "Oswin."

She blinked at him, dumbfounded, "My name's not Oswin."

"It is now."

Clara scoffed and started to walk again, "You can't just..._assign_ me a name, just cause you don't like the one I gave you."

"Ahh." Theta grinned at her, "There it is."

Clara sighed in aggravation, "There's what?"

"You said, 'The name I gave you', not 'my name'."

She gapped, "That doesn't mean anything. Besides the point still stands."

"Well," He adjusted his pack strap, his face neutral but there was a flicker of amusement in his eyes, "You were unwilling to give me your real name, so I had to improvise."

Clara huffed, but shook her head, giving in, "Why Oswin?"

"Because it's strange, and mysterious." He gave her a small grin, "Like you!"

It took all of Clara's self restrain not to snort, "Like me? Sorry, but you've got the wrong girl. I'm nothing like that."

"Oswin!" He lifted his hands dramatically, like he was about to begin a show, "The impossible girl. There and not there at the same time. A girl who, without trying, can stand right in front of you..." He trailed off and turned to face her, tapping her on her upturned nose, "And yet remain invisible."

Clara rolled her eyes, "I'm not impossible Lungbarrow. You're just unobservant."

"I'm the most observant person in this school." He argued.

"Obviously not." Clara couldn't help the small grin on her face. "How was your astronomy class last night?"

"Astronomy?" He looked confused and then nodded, remembering that he'd given that as an excuse, "Oh it...it was good."

Cara smiled, "I've got to go to Charms now."

"Oh, right, yes...um..." He looked a bit nervous at letting her leave, "Will I see you again?"

"I'm not going to vanish you know." Clara laughed, "If you look I'll be there."

He gave her a soft smile, "I'll see you around then?"

She gave him a tiny smile then moved into the castle hall, vanishing into the mass crowd, knowing that he would be shocked when she showed up tonight in his _actual _astronomy class tomorrow night.

* * *

**Review with any comments, concerns, or questions :)**  
** -Ash**


	4. Astronomy

**Chasing Mice**

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Astronomy**_

* * *

"You're late." Jenny hissed as she removed her bag from the seat that she'd been saving for Clara.

"I know I'm sorry," Clara breathed heavily, "I got caught up with something right after Herbology."

Jenny nodded, "Was-"

"No, Madame Vastra was not teaching." Clara said with a sigh.

Jenny sighed, "Shame." But then she perked up, "You going to the quidditch match this afternoon?"

Clara sighed, remembering once again that while Jenny was her best friend, she was very much oblivious to the comings and goings of her life. "I don't like quidditch."

"Oh come on!" Jenny jumped up and down, "First game of the year, Puffs verses Gryffindor! I heard we have a good team this year."

"Great!" Clara cheered sarcastically, "That way we won't lose _as _badly."

"You're such a pessimist." Jenny sighed.

Clara rolled her eyes, "Look, Quidditch just isn't my thing. Plus I have to finish my Arthimency homework, I had rounds last night, remember."

"Fine." Jenny Sighed, "How did that go anyway."

"The usual." Clara sighed, "Couple first years, oh and Lungbarrow macking on some girl."

Jenny choked, "What, really?"

"It's no big deal." Clara sighed, even though the bubbling in her stomach told her that it _was _a big deal for some reason or another. "It was just some slytherin girl."

"Was she pretty?" Jenny asked.

Clara shrugged, "Suppose so, didn't really think about it," Didn't _want _to think about it more likely.

"Well that sucks." Jenny sighed.

Clara frowned suspiciously, "What was that?"

"Hmm." Jenny looked between Professor Flitwick on her, trying to look as innocent as possible, "What's what?"

"That sigh." Clara narrowed her eyes, "And that look, what's with the sympathy glances?"

"Nuthin'." Jenny said far too quickly, "I was just thinkin', that maybe you had a thing for him, that's all."

Clara rolled her eyes, "I've had two conversations with him, ever."

Jenny looked away, but Clara could tell she had something to say.

"What is it?" Clara snapped.

"Well, it's just." Jenny winced, "That's more conversations than you've had with any other person besides me."

Clara gapped at her, "That's...that's not true."

"Well," Jenny shrugged, "Who else do you talk too."

"I talk to loads of people." Clara straightened, "I talk to Missy!"

"Missy's a 'ouse elf." Jenny said dryly.

"She's a person..." Clara defended, "I talk to the first years."

"To give them directions or help with their homework." Jenny said, then cut Clara off before she could continue, "The point is, you're not exactly a social person. It's not my fault if I thought you might like the one guy who you actually talked too."

"I _definitely _don't like him." Clara defended, "He's a menace."

* * *

Clara hated astronomy class.

Really, really hated it. It had to be her worst class, probably something to do with the fact that it was held in the middle of the night. She was almost always dead tired as she dragged her way up the stairs, all too aware that she had to be awake in six hours for her early morning potions lesson.

But now she was starting to loathe it. Not because of any of these, but because the menace would be here.

She'd been walking too fine a line with him. Talking to him, playing games, teasing. She didn't want to become friends with him. He lead to trouble and danger - the last thing she wanted.

So when she got to the tower, she made her way over to the opposite side of where he usually went, and choose that telescope.

This would be good. He probably wouldn't even notice she was here. She could switch places in Herbology, and avoid him in Arthimency. She'd fly back under his radar become invisible again. Just plain old Clara Oswald.

She felt someone take the scope next to her and ignored them, instead focused on setting up her own and moving it into position to continue from last class.

She peered through the scope and frowned, moving it a bit to the east, trying to find the star cluster they'd been focusing on. She moved it a bit more and growled under her breath. She'd been sure it was around here somewhere.

"If you charm the coordinates it's easer to find them next lesson."

Clara squeaked in surprised, jumping away from her scope to look at the person next to her.

It was _him._

She gapped, looking across the room to where he normally worked and saw a floating yellow line around the scope. Out of order. Typical.

Theta looked amused at her jumpiness, ""Sorry, didn't mean to scare you - you're in this class too?"

Clara frowned, turning away from him, "You didn't scare me. Usually you work over there, I didn't expect you to be there."

"So I scared you." He repeated.

"No." Clara drawled out the word, "You did not."

He gave her a sort of half-smile as he turned towards her scope, "But here." He pointed to a small panel, "If you point your wand at it, it'll remember the coordinates. So all you have to do it..."

He pointed his wand at her scope and it suddenly went whirling, moving west until it was in a completely different part of the sky.

Theta grinned, looking proud of himself. He looked down at Clara who realized that he was just a bit too close and took a tiny step back, clearing her throat. "Thanks."

He shrugged, then leaned in a bit, "Please tell me you haven't been in this class all year."

Clara felt her playful side rear its ugly head and couldn't help the tiny smirk that crossed her face, "Yes I have, which is why I was ever so confused when you said you had astronomy...last night."

"Last nig-?" A look of realization came over, "Oh, er- right."

Clara snorted "Went to find Miss Slytherin and snog in another broom closet did we?" Did that come out as bitter as she thought it did?

"No!" He denied quickly, "No, no, no. We're not...we didn't." Was it her imagination or was he blushing?

"Sure." Clara made it clear she didn't believe him, "Do you usually have midnight escapades."

He shook his head, "No she kissed me."

Clara snorted, "And you kissed her back."

"No." He shook his head "I kissed her mouth."

"So are you and Miss Slytherin dating or something." She asked before she could stop herself.

His smile faded into an annoyed look, "No."

"So you just kiss random women in broom closets?"

"She said she wanted to talk." He fidgeted with his telescope.

"In a broom closet?"

He stopped, looking up, "Yeah, well hindsight's 20/20. Why are you so interested anyway. Do you usually accost people you find snogging in broom closets."

"No." Clara blushed, and looked down, "I don't usually talk...to...people." She blinked, avoiding his gaze as she pulled out her star chart.

He didn't say anything, but his gaze stayed on her. She tried to ignore it, but it was a heavy sort of gaze that one could feel on their skin. She flashed a look out of the corner of her eyes and saw that his face was pensive, like he wasn't sure what to make of her statement.

Finally a sort of soft grin appeared on his face, "Well that's good then."

Clara blinked. She wasn't expecting that. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you're talking to me." He shrugged and turned to his telescope, "That must mean I'm doing something right."

* * *

They didn't talk much after that. Theta went about making his chart, only occasionally flickering his eyes over to Oswin, who had her nose scrounged up in frustration as she struggled with her chart, which was nearly destroyed with scratched out quill marks.

His own chart was flawless, the stars mapped accurately and neatly and magically roaring around his sheet in an mock orbit. He studied her sheet and looked up at the tiny Hufflepuff girl, biting his lip.

"Sirius isn't right." He mumbled.

Oswin paused, turning to look at him, "Excuse me?"

"On your sheet." He said, keeping a single eye on the professor who was helping out another Hufflepuff across the room, " The Sirius star system is wrong."

She glared at him, looking down at her sheet, "We're you stealing answers off my paper?"

He snorted, "I don't need to cheat."

Both of her eyebrows vanished beneath her bangs, "You don't?"

"No." He said confidently, "I finished twenty minutes ago."

She huffed and turned to her sheet, studying it intently, looking between it and her sheet, "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Yes there is." He smirked.

She clenched her teeth together, "Would you mind pointing how it's wrong, or are you just gonna stand there and look smug?"

He grinned at her, poking her gently on her upturned nose, "_That_ would be cheating, and I know how much you Puffs don't like that."

And without another word he picked up his finished star chart, handing it to the professor and left down the tower.

Right before he left the room he heard the soft whisper of Oswin muttering, "_Arse._" under her breath.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing this! I love you guys. For those wondering, I will still be working on my Afterword series, I'm just taking a break from it as I try to clear out my writers block.**

**Please review with any comments, concerns or questions :) **

**-Ash**


	5. Pride and Lust

_**Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who or Harry Potter**_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Pride and Lust**

* * *

When Jenny walked up to the Hufflepuff table the next morning, Clara was already there, staring at a piece of parchment with her eyebrows furrowed, absentmindedly nibbling on a bagel.

"You're up early." Jenny noted, sitting across from her.

Clara looked up from her parchment, blinking as she looked around the great hall, "It's morning?"

"Christ." Jenny winced, pouring coffee, "Were you up all night?"

Clara yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, I guess so." She set the parchment down, glaring at it as she poured herself a coffee, needing a pick up.

"Well, what's that then?" Jenny asked.

Clara frowned at it, "Astronomy homework."

"Yikes." Jenny winced. Clara knew why. Normally Astronomy didn't have homework - unless you didn't finish your charts in class. "How much do you have left."

"I finished." Clara replied quickly.

Jenny was looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Then...I don't understand."

"There's something wrong with Sirius." Clara sighed, rubbing her face. Staying up all night had been a bad move. No doubt she would be in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. She felt bad for any poor souls who whould have the bad luck to cross her path.

"What's wrong with it?" Jenny frowned.

Clara removed her hands, picking up the parchment, studying it, "I don't know, _and he won't tell me_." He muttered those last words mostly to herself. "I'm not good at astronomy."

"Maybe you should get a tutor?" Jenny suggested, then, seeing the look on Clara's face, continued, "Seriously Clara, getting help isn't cheating."

"It feels like it is." She mumbled.

"It's not though." Jenny smiled at her, "I got a tutor for Arthimency."

"Madame Vastra _'tutored_' you in Arthimency." Clara corrected, "And I very much doubt there was much tutoring going on."

"Nah," Jenny blushed, "She wouldn't do nuthin' like that. I'm underage and, I mean I joke and all...but, she's a lady."

Clara couldn't help the soft smile at Jenny's expression, "You're lucky."

"Why's that?" Jenny asked.

"I dunno." Clara shrugged, "It must be nice to know what you want."

Jenny giggled under her breath, 'I told you Clara, if you're having _questions_..."

"That's not what I meant." Clara chuckled.

Jenny shook her head and looked back at her homework, "Seriously though, who's top in your class?"

"How should I know?" Clara frowned.

"Trophy room." Jenny said through a mouthful of grapes, "Students win awards for top in each class. The plaque is charmed, changes as grades do. It's healthy competition, yeah."

"Hmm." Clara thought about it. She didn't want a tutor...she didn't _need _a tutor, but maybe she could track them down and ask what was wrong with Sirius on her star chart.

Jenny nodded and downed the rest of her coffee, "Ready for potions?"

"Who's idea was it to have Snape first thing in the morning?" Clara groaned, "I don't even have my potions set.

"You can borrow mine." Jenny promised, "Just don't let me melt another cauldron."

* * *

Arthimency was right after Potions, and it was terrible.

True to her promise to herself, she sat far away from Lungbarrow, hoping that he wasn't going to notice her. She took out her normally put up hair, and let it dangle around her face.

But soon she found herself tapping her quill against her parchment, bored as she waited for Madame Vastra to show. The seat beside her was more noticeably empty than it had been before.

Lungbarrow was sitting beside Miss. Slytherin, who Clara now recognized as Reinette Pompadour. She was smiling at him, all charm, and he was laughing at something she'd said.

Clara felt something fall inside her and she bit the inside of her cheek. _Of course_ they were dating. She'd never seen Lungbarrow with a girl before, so it's not like he was one to take them into Broom closets and snog.

Then why did he say he wasn't?

_He felt bad for you. _An annoying part of her brain said, _he took pity on you._

She shut it up. No of course he didn't, why on Earth would he take pity on her, there was nothing wrong with her.

She looked over at them again. Okay, maybe they weren't dating. He seemed nice enough, he was probably just being nice. Maybe he was explaining that he wasn't interested or something. He seemed like the kind who was nice to everyone.

That thought made her feel like she'd been punched in the gut, and she looked downa t her paper dejectedly. Of course that was it. He was nice to everyone. He must've just felt bad about the water balloon incident. She wasn't sure why she thought him talking to her made her special. He talked to _everyone_. She wasn't any different.

She looked over at Lungbarrow and Reinette and felt one last slap to the face.

That looked _good_ together.

* * *

At the end of the Lesson Clara waited for the room to vacate before leaving, knowing that it would be far easier to not run into him that way.

Once it was mostly empty she shoved her notes into her bag, throwing it over her shoulder and walking out of the room.

"...one second Reinette I forgot my- _Oof_!"

Clara stopped as she ran into a grey vest stretch a bit too tightly over a chest. She cursed mentally, knowing that only one student wore such an outdated uniform.

_Damn. _She hissed mentally. She was so close.

"Oswin!" He cheered, then looked to where she was walking from, "You're in this class? You should've said, we could have sat together."

"You looked busy." Clara mumbled.

"Nah." He grinned without a care, "Always got time for you."

Clara pursed her lips together, her lack of sleep and self pity finally bursting forward, "Look Lungbarrow...I don't know if you feel bad for me...or if you're looking for a charity case. But I don't need your help. I'm not some pity case you can take up to feel better about yourself!"

And before she could feel bad about her outburst she ran off, marching down the hall without a look back.

Turning a corner she ran into another body.

"Dammit." She snapped, "This is not my day."

A hand steadied her, but then released her immediately like it had been burned.

She looked up and actually felt a bit of fear as she saw the face of Koschei Oakdown.

"Oh, er..." Clara took a step back, "Sorry 'bout that."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and mild annoyance. With a terse smile, Clara moved around him and stormed down the hall, hoping that Lungbarrow and Oakdown would forget about her and leave her in peace.

* * *

Luck was so painfully against her that in any other situation she might have laughed.

But as she looked at the gold plating in the trophy room she could only feel despair.

There engraved on the plaque was the name of the last person in the whole school she was about to ask for help.

Theta Lungbarrow.

_I'm gonna fail astronomy._

* * *

Clara was on the way back to the Hufflepuff common room when she pasted the perfect bathroom.

She let out a sigh at the sight of it. A good bath was what she needed. Something to work out the tight knots that had formed in her back the last couple of days.

She walked up to the portrait and said the password, the painting flying open to show two people walking from the bathroom, whispering to each other as they did.

They were so absorbed with each other that they barely noticed Clara until they ran into her.

"Oh..." Rory Williams blushed, moving away from Amy Pond. "Hi."

Clara raised an eyebrow between them, "Hi..."

They both stood there staring at each other in awkward silence, before Clara moved around them and entered the bathroom.

The second she was inside she started to strip. She'd gotten over her aversion to bathing with other girls a long time ago, learning quickly that it wasn't as taboo in the Wizarding world as it was in the muggle. She was just lucky there was no co'ed bathroom - she doubted she'd ever get used to being naked in front of men.

But today she was lucky, and there wasn't anybody in the bathroom.

She quickly shed her clothes, yanking her tie over her head and unbuttoning her shirt. She could feel the stress of the last few days coming up over her. Who knew talking to someone would be so nerve-racking.

_Maybe it's just because he's so incredibly h-_

Stop right there.

She winced, dropping her skirt and stepping out of it, and taking off her underwear, relishing in the warm bathroom air.

She stepped into the perfect temperature water, quickly dropping until the water was up to her collarbones, and let out a sigh that was damn near pornographic.

"Oswin? You in here? Amy said she saw you he...r...e..."

Clara was looking down in the water, her eyes wide.

_For the love of all that is holy, do not let that be Theta Lungbarrow standing in the bathroom._

But some alright universe controlling being must hate her, because when she looked up Lungbarrow was gapping, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he stared at her.

No, not at her...at the water.

The very.._.clear_...water...

Clara looked down, and quickly covered herself as best as possible, a gasp of horror coming out of her mouth.

"_What are you doing in here!_" She shrieked at him.

"Er..." Lungabarrow was trying to answer, but she could see his eyes wandering. "Wow."

Annoyed, Clara grabbed a bar of soap from the edge of the bath, and threw it.

"Get out!" She yelled, grabbing another soap, "Get!"

Lungbarrow ducked, holding up his hands in surrender as he yelped and ran for the door, another soap hitting the back of the portrait as it closed behind him. On the other side she could hear the painting grumbling something, probably not very nice, to Clara.

Clara stood there in the water, which suddenly felt a lot colder than it had before, breathing heavily as all the blood in her body rushed to her face.

Had that actually just happened? Like really happened?

She ran over to the edge of the pool and quickly turned on the soaps, not relaxing until the bubbles covered every inch of her body.

Then she sat there on the edge of the pool, waiting until she was sure Lungbarrow wasn't waiting for her outside.

Or until she died. Whichever came first.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Drop me a review with any comments, concerns, or questions :)**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	6. Third Star

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Harry Potter**_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Third Star**

* * *

The next morning Clara practically inhaled her eggs.

Jenny was watching her with a mixture of disgust and wonder, "Er- Are you alright?"

Clara slowed to breath, "Sorry, I'm starving."

"I'd bet." Jenny took a sip of her coffee, "You missed dinner last night, any reason why."

Clara paused, looking ahead with wide eyes. Well yes, there was a very obvious reason why she's missed dinner. That reason being that only an hour beforehand Theta Lungbarrow had seen her bare as her birthday.

"No." Clara squeaked, "Just lost track of time."

Jenny narrowed her eyes, but didn't press much further. Instead she giggled and leaned forward, "I have a date with Madame Vastra tonight."

"No you don't." Clara corrected, "You have tutoring with Madame Vastra."

"Same thing." Jenny shrugged,

Clara giggled, but thens topped when she saw a mess of red hair moving into the hall. Amy Pond.

Which meant that Theta wouldn't be far behind.

She grabbed her bag and a piece of toast, shoving it her mouth, "Got to go."

Jenny frowned, "Class doesn't start for another hour."

"Er..." Clara paused, and shook her head, "I need to go to the library...for...astronomy."

Jenny narrowed her eyes.

Clara sighed, "Not buying it?"

"Nope."

Clara groaned and collapsed back into the seat, and proceeded to inform her of the painfully embarrassing incident that had happened the night before.

"Oh my god." Jenny gapped, but Clara could see the twitch in her cheek where she was trying not to laugh.

"Shut it." Clara hissed, "It's not funny."

Jenny bit her bottom lip, "It's a little funny."

Clara blushed and groaned, "What am I supposed to do?"

"How did he even know the password?" Jenny wondered out loud, "He's not a Gryffindor prefect."

Clara remembered what Lungbarrow had been saying the moment before he entered and frowned, "I think Rory told him."

Jenny stood up, grabbing her bag and Clara joined her as they walked out of the hall.

"This is all his fault." Clara grumbled, "He couldn't leave well enough alone, you know?"

"Well, did he see..._anything_?"

Clara remembered the way his eyes had been glued downwards and shivered slightly. Because it was cold. No other reasons. Nope.

"He better not have." She grumbled, and moved through a massive oak door into the front entrance.

Only to pause as she came face to face with the one person she was trying to avoid.

For a second both her and Lungbarrow froze, blinking at each other in a sort of dazed state.

Jenny cleared her throat, "Hello there Lungbarrow."

"Hmm?" Lungbarrow blinked rapidly, and cleared his throat. If Clara didn't know any better she could swear that his cheeks were stained pink. His eyes kept flickering between Jenny and towards Clara, his eyes...lingering.

So much for him not having seen anything,

Someone yelled Lungbarrow's name and he turned. Clara took advantage of the situation and turned, running down the hall and vanishing into a crowd.

* * *

She managed to avoid him for the rest of the day, which resulted in her missing lunch and spending hours in a dark corner of the library.

She missed a number of her classes and knew that she was going to get a mouthful from Sprout on Friday, but she didn't care. She didn't want to face _him. _To see him stare at her like he always did, or try to talk to her. Every time she thought about him all she could see was the gapping look of surprise on his face when he walked into that bathroom.

And then she'd start to blush right down too...well to areas that she didn't exactly want to deal with right now, and thoughts that were becoming burdensome.

So instead she focussed on her homework, pulling out her astronomy chart and throwing it onto the table along with a few dozen books from the library.

She studied for the rest of the day. Going deep into any books she could find, trying to find the singular detail that she was missing.

She found it eventually, a single sentence in her textbook.

"_In recent years muggle astronomers have discovered a so called 'Third star' in the Sirius star system, however the star is too small to have any significant magical effect on spells, enchantments, or wards."_

Clara frowned. That was it? This tiny third star?

She pulled out her start chart with a small frown on her face and looked at the sirius system.

Both her eyebrows raised to her forehead. Her chart was off a tiny amount, but she'd never seen a chart not off before. But if she added the tiny star into the chart.

It was perfect.

She gapped, watching as the stars on her chat rearranged themselves with the addition of the new star, moving in perfect synchronization around her paper. Without the wide wobble and sharp unnatural turns that her charts usually had.

And she had done it without Theta Lungbarrows help...sort of.

She couldn't help the smug smirk that crossed her face as she rolled up the chart and put it into her book bag, waving her wand so that the dozen or so book on her table flew back to their proper shelves.

Mentally she told Jenny to suck it. She didn't need a tutor, she was a Hufflepuff. Hard work and patience were her forte. Which was good because after last night there was no way in hell she was asking Lungbarrow to be her tutor.

She looked at her textbook, opening up to the next section: "Exoplanets and their relation to magic on earth."

Okay...maybe she needed a tutor. But it didn't need to be Lungbarrow, did it? She was sure there were other students in the school who excelled in the class. She could find one of them and ask.

She felt bile rise in her throat at the idea. It was bad enough having to ask someone for help, but asking a total stranger? As awkward as their encounters had been, Lungbarrow was not a stranger.

But then her mind went back to that Arthimency class, and she growled once again. No...she didn't want him to have another reason to pity her. She'd solved this problem without his help, she'd pass the class without it too.

No matter how difficult it was.

She was a Hufflepuff after all.

* * *

**A/N: Okay this chapter was stupidly short. I actually feel dumb for how short it is, but it didn't really fit in with the next chapter or the last chapter so it's here in the middle. I'll update the next one soon so hopefully you guys will forgive me for it.**

**Im actually quite surprised that a lot of you guys like this, both her and on FFN. But thank you all so much for your kind words! Please feel free to drop me a comment, concerns for question! I love hearing from you guys!**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


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